Orphan
by Julia Scribe
Summary: You just have to read it.


Title: Orphan  
  
Author: PinkPakRat  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Rating: G  
  
Disclaimers: Sailor Moon and all of its characters do not belong to me. They belong to Naoko Takeuchi and Bandai and all those other big companies that are not me. So please do not sue me. I only have a couple dollars.  
  
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The dark halls loomed overhead, supported by thick, metal columns. Eyes peered at her from the shadows; big eyes, illuminated by the little light that came from the open door. Serena shivered, although whether it was from the cold or from fear she didn't know. She held on tighter to Ms. Star, the social worker.  
  
Ms. Star led Serena down the dark hall to Mrs. Willows' office. Mrs. Willows was the head of the orphanage. She was known for her sterness. Mrs. Willows' office had to be one of the plainest offices. Not even a picture of her family- *If she has any,* thought Serena- on her large metal desk. File cabinents lined the walls.  
  
  
  
"Please. Have a seat," Mrs. Willows said curtly, motioning to the two metal chairs. *She must like metal,* Serena thought to herself. "As you have probably already heard,-" Serena snapped back to attention, "I will not tolerate any misbehavior. You will either play nicely with the other kids or you won't play at all. You will help the staff in the kitchens if you do misbehave. And trust me, there is always work to do in the kitchens." At this Mrs. Willows smiled an evil smile. It chilled Serena to the bones. Mrs. Willows continued, "One of the kids will be your sponsor. That means that he or she will show you the ropes. They'll explain all the rules to you and show you where everything is. Any questions?" Mrs. Willows paused for a moment. "Very well then. Ms. Star here will take you to the field."  
  
"Come on Serena," Ms. Star said, taking Serena's small hand in her own. "Time to go meet the other kids." Serena just started at Mrs. Willows. "Come on," Ms. Star said again, a little more urgentlyb this time. Finally Serena got up out of the chair and followed Ms. Star out the door, staring at Mrs. Willows over her shoulder. Mrs. Willows was staring at Serena as well.  
  
`The field' was covered with kids, ranging from some as young as herself to others that were 13 years old or older. "There now. Go along and play with the other children," Ms. Star said kindly, giving her a little push out onto the field. When Serena turned to look back at her she was already gone. She turned around to look at the field again. She noticed that one tree didn't have anyone playing near it. So she walked over to it, careful not to get run over by any of the other kids.  
  
Serena looked at the giant tree. It was the largest and the oldest of all the trees. Its trunk was so gnarled that there wasn't a single smooth spot on it. The branches reached far out and the leaves were so close together that not even the heaviest of rains would be able to get through. Walking around she noticed that three of the branches were level with each other and about the same distance apart. "Hmmm...." Serena said to herself.  
  
"Hi there! You must be new." Serena turned around to see a girl her age standing a few feet away. "My name's Molly, what's yours?" she asked.  
  
"Serena."  
  
"Wow. What a lovely name. Serena. I wish I had a name like that," Molly said wistfully.  
  
"Do you know where I could get some wood and building supplies?" Serena asked Molly.  
  
"Why?" Molly asked, curious.  
  
"See those three branches up there?" Serena asked, pointing.  
  
"Yeah. What about 'em?"  
  
"Well, if we could just build like a little platform up there we could have something like our own treehouse. It would be our special place," Serena explained to Molly.  
  
"Oh, I get it. And this is the perfect place too. Hardly anybody comes over here. C'mon, lets go get that wood and those building supplies! I wanna start right now," Molly stated, running over towards one of the buildings.  
  
"Hey! Wait for me!" Serena yelled after her new friend.  
  
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"Well it's finally finished," Serena said, looking at the result of three weeks' hard work.  
  
"Yep. Who ever thought that two six-year-olds would be able to build a treehouse?" Molly remarked.  
  
Serena and Molly had swiped some wood, a bos of nails and a couple of hamers. If anyone thought it odd that two six-year-olds were carrying board after board across the field they didn't say anything.  
  
They were only able to build during recess, and after school was over (Yes, the orphanage did have school. They couldn't just let the kids play all day. From the age of six on you went to school. School was from 8:00 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., with lunch for everybody at 12:00). Sometimes they worked during lunch, when the food was really icky.  
  
"Come on, lets go up there right now. We can work on our homework," suggested Molly.  
  
"Alright."  
  
So every day for the next four years Molly and Serena climbed the rope ladder that they had made to do with their homework after school. When they wre done with that they talked about the cute guys at the orphanage (yes, even at that young an age. Pretty soon the first thing to pop out of a baby's mouth with either be `hot' or `cute,').  
  
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"Oh Serena! I'm happy and sad at the same time. I'm happy because you're going to get a new set of foster parents. And I'm sad because I can't come with you," Molly told her best friend.  
  
"I know. I feel the same way," Serena said. Then she impulsively reached out and hugged her best friend, who was sobbing. Molly hugged Serena back, sobbing into her shoulder.  
  
A woman and a man had come by yesterday looking for a kid to adopt. None of the older kids- including Serena and Molly- thought that any of them would get picked. It was always the little kids that get picked. So once you pased the age of eight or nine your chances were pretty low.  
  
Serena had been told that afternon during lunch. The man and the woman were there; Kenji was the man and the woman was Ikuko. She was to leave next week Thursday. Today was Friday.  
  
It started to rain. "Come on, lets go to our treehouse. I don't feel like going inside just yet," Serena suggested. Molly just nodded her head, still sniffling.  
  
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It was Thursday, the day that Serena had to go with the Tsukino's to live with them. Molly and Serena were standing outside the orphanage by the car saying their last good-byes.  
  
"I'll always remember you," Serena said to Molly, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to burst forth.  
  
"Me too," Molly answered, also trying to hold back tears. "I hope you have a nice life with them." Molly gave Serena a hug.  
  
Serena walked over to the car and when she got to the door she turned around and waved and yelled "See ya!" Then she stepped into the vehicle and closed the door.  
  
"See ya," whispered Molly as the car drove away and out of sight, taking her best friend with it. It was then that the tears came and Molly welcomed them.  
  
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Serena looked up at the house, or rather the mansion, that would serve as her new home. It had a porch on all four sides of the house. Baskets full of all sorts of flowers hung from the porch ceiling and flowers were on both sides of the house. In the back was an herb garden. Also in the back was a balcony overlooking the great expanse of field behind the mansion. A fountain of an angel stood in the middle of the  
  
"Come on. Lets get all your things inside and into your new room," Kenji- *No, `Dad'* Serena corrected herself- said, dragging with him Serena's suitcase.  
  
A gasp from Serena extracted a small smile from Ikuko when they got to Seren's room. She had made sure that everything was ready for Serena's arrival.  
  
It was just so beautiful. Serena stood in the doorway to her new bedroom. There was a canopied bed on the wall opposite the door. Its shets had moons and stars on it, with suns for pillows. The frame had gold leaf. On either side of the bed were two wooden dressers, made out of mahogony and they had patterns of climbing roses carved on them. Stars covered the walls, forming constelations. Over her bed was a star that Serena guessed was supposed to be the North Star. Serena just stared at it all.  
  
"When I was visiting the orphanage I ran into your friend Molly. She told me that you like stuff that had to do with suns and moons and stars." Serena spun around to see Ikuko standing there, a smile on her face. "Seems she was right."  
  
"This place is beautiful," Serena breathed, turning back to look at her room. HER room. This haven among the skies was all hers. Her eyes filled with tears. "Thank you, Mrs. Tsukino," she said, still looking at her room.  
  
"Please, call me anything but Mrs. Tsukino. It makes me feel weird," Ikuko told Serena.  
  
"Alright then, Ikuko," Serena said.  
  
"Much better. Dinner will be served at 7:00. I'll expect to see you there," Ikuko said, turning to go. "Oh, and I almost forgot. YOur new brother will be joining us also." Then she left.  
  
*Brother? I have a brother?* Serena thought in disbelief. *YES! I have a little brother! I am so HAPPY!* (This girl must be crazy. Actually _liking_ the fact that she has an annoying little brother? Wait a second. What am I saying? I'm the one that wrote this. ::knocks head against wall::) Serena flopped down on her bed.  
  
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Dinner was nothing like dinners at the orphanage. At the orphanage it was always noisy. Kids talking, adults shouting. Sometimes it had scared Serena. But nothing- _nothing_- had ever scared her as much as this silence did.  
  
There was no talking at the table. No conversations betrween the husband and wife about how work went. No mom asking her son how school went. Just the sounds of chewing and swallowing. Finally she just couldn't take it anymore.  
  
"May I please be excused?" she asked politely.  
  
"But dear, you haven't even _touched_ your dinner," Ikuko said, concern on her face.  
  
"I'm not hungry. May I please be excused?" she repeated.  
  
"Alright."  
  
"Thank you." Serena stood up with her plate, going into the kitchen to rinse it off. Then she went upstairs to her room.  
  
"What's with her? I mean, she never even said a word throughout the whole dinner," Sammy, Serena's new brother, said.  
  
"Well it's not as if you tried to make conversation either," Kenji said.  
  
"_All_ of us seem to have trouble talking to her," Ikuko told them. "And she is kinda shy and that _does_ complicate things a little."  
  
"What's her name?" Sammy asked.  
  
"Serena."  
  
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The next day Serena awoke at 6:00 in the morning; her usual waking time at the orphanage. When she went downstairs the entire house was quiet. *Everybody must be sleeping. It is, after all, summer. People sleep in during the summer,* Serena thought as she made herself some breakfast.  
  
At 8:30 Ikuko came out to find a little blonde girl with her hair in a braid quietly drawing on the couch.  
  
"When did you get up? I would've thought that you'd still be sleeping." Ikuko said in confusion.  
  
"I got up at 6:00 this morning. School starts at 7:45 for us and I usually have a lot to do before school starts. And then on the weekends I get up this early because the sooner you wake up the sooner your chores get done which means the sooner you can go outside and play." Serena replied matter- of-factly.  
  
"Well, would you like something to eat?" Ikuko asked, still amazed that anybody would actually _want_ to wake up that early in the morning.  
  
"No, thank you. I already had breakfast." Serena said politely.  
  
"You did?" Ikuko said, still in a state of utter confusion.  
  
"Uh-huh. I cooked it myself. I spent a lot of time in the kitchens, that's how I know." Serena explained.  
  
"Oh. Well I'm gonna go make some breakfast for myself." Ikuko said.  
  
"Okay." said Serena, going back to her book.  
  
*That girl. She just amazes me.* Ikuko said, getting out the stuff needed to make a good breakfast. *Wait, I have to go get the paper.* thought Ikuko, momentarily abandoning the task of making herself breakfast.  
  
"I already got the paper Ikuko. It's sitting on the island in the table in the kitchen." Serena called out, as if reading Ikuko's mind. Ikuko just stood there in total shock and wonder. *How did she do that?* Ikuko just shrugged it off as a coincidence and went back to preparing breakfast for herself and the rest of her family.  
  
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That is my first chapter. I wrote this before I wrote my other fics adn have just now posted it so don't get all mad at me for working on this instead of my other ones. 


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